10.02.2008

these are a few of my favorite things....

i just thought i'd share some things i'm enjoying lately....
to get the full effect of this click here to insert sound of music song mentioning doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
.


now, sit back, relax and....
imagine me prancing around the
nursery with my children
in matching nightgowns
....
or not...that would be
way too much.

1.
1. i just adore sleep grins. i'm still working on getting a full fledged sleep grin in a picture, but they are soo quick that i usually miss the great ones. this is the best i've gotten so far. i have one thing to say....these are NOT grins he makes when passing gas. i'm convinced that he's just having great dream. i can just imagine him having wonderful dreams of wonderful things like mom's juice, westling with justin someday, getting dressed up by anna in girl clothes and hevenly father. what a nice little face from the little guy that usually stares at me as if i am an alien.

2.
2.dang, PATRICK sure is cute! one of my favorite things is seeing a man...my man....wearing a sling. this is the 1st of our children he has carried in a sling and i sure do love it...and so does dallin. they just look so cute together. i also enjoy patrick's face with a hint of extra cheeze.

3.
3.i love how much justin LOVES dallin. he can't get enough of him. he just repeats over and over, "mom, his is just soooo cute." then he gives him a really tight squeeze and a kiss...or 10, but who's counting.

4.
4. i have a strange love for buckets. this cute mop bucket that rings out my dirty mop is handy and great to have around, even if it doesn't get used as often as it should. why is a mop bucket one of my favorite things? the floors in my house are entirely hardwood. nuff said.

5.
5. i think the perfect hair swirl on the back of dallin's cute little head is perfectly YUMMY. it must be in the genes. justin has it too. so cute.

6.
6. at times, i cant get enough of whole foods...no, people, i've not gone crazy throwing my money around, i like whole foods only under VERY special circumstances: when they are closing the store and selling off inventory at rediculously cheep prices. and just because they knew that i couldn't stay away when there would be more stuff i hadn't seen yet , they put new stuff on clearance every day. i'm sorry to say that i went there 10 times in a two week period. i paid 1.99 for a lg. bottle of delicious olive oil...then i bought 12 more just like it and called it food storage. i just couldn't pass up that 50# bag of sea salt for 10.99 either...it's name: food storage.

7.


7.the GOPHER is my true friend!!! i have never had such a fondness for a tool in my entire life. if you've ever been pregnant or have conastantly carried a baby around, while helping pick up after 2 young children you can imagine why i would love gophie so. i love his suction cups, sturdy construction and fancy trigger lock. i'm just lazy enough that even when the kids are grown and gone, he'll still be my friend.

8.
8. i just laughed when i saw anna's "rain" dance as she pranced around her puddle on the floor.
(and i'm not talking about the kind that falls from the sky).....
i also love that i have hard floors cause it's rains in our house more than is does outside ever since anna discovered that she REALLY enjoys that free feeling and has learned to take her clothing and nappy off.

9.
9. you may find this hare to believe, but: i LOVE laundry (hold on while i paste a VERY fake happy grin on my face.) come on, repeat with me...."I LOVE LAUNDRY." "I LOVE LAUNDRY." "I LOVE LAUNDRY." until this afternoon I did NOT love laundry. but i do now.

laundry is a crazy thing to love, but I've decided i've got no other choice. for as long as i can remember, at the very thought of doing laundry i would simply repeat the folllowing mantra in my head and from my tired lips:
"once i gave up all hope (of EVER keeping the laundry done on a regular basis) i felt much better."
the only problem is that no matter how many times i would repeat this, i never felt better. i would just think, i hate laundry, then wait until it got so bad that our family would get together, put on a movie and have a LAUNDRY PARTY! yes. it was incredibly fun, right!? whenever justin hears that we'll be watching a movie he begs, "can we NOT have a laundry party while we watch a movie?" poor child.

the picture i posted i took 3 weeks ago. at that point i had had it and spent all day sorting, folding it and putting it all away. now, today, it is just as bad. but now i am NOT going to dread doing it because....
I LOVE LAUNDRY
. yes, yes i do. i can love such a neverending monotanous task. last week when i went to TIME OUT for women, Virginia Hinkley Pearce , mother of 6, said something i needed to hear about housekeeping. she shared. "there are no insignifigant tasks, no matter how small." thanks virginia, i needed that.

i think she was even talking about my laundry, even if it's not exactly a small task.

the other day, my friend alissa wrote a post about how she LOVES ironing. so, if alissa can LOVE ironing, julie can LOVE laundry.
hopefully this is true love...but only time will tell.

I SIMPLY REMEMBER MY FAVORITE THINGS....AND THEN I DON'T FEEEEL SOOOOOOO BAD!





22 comments:

Mansius Family said...

These are so much fun I love this post. I have to agree with you about laundry. I LOVE LAUNDRY! The only way I get it done is by watching a movie or a tv episode on the internet while I fold. Also its fun to see Patrick wearing the baby sling. I can't get James to wear one because he says its girly. I will have to show him that picture that way he knows there is at least one guy that he knows that will wear one.

The San Diego Mills said...

Cute pictures! I also love some of the things you mentioned and most especially newborn babies smiling in their sleep. I always wonder what kind of sweet baby dreams they are having to make them smile like that. Also, I will be in Las Vegas from Oct. 9th-13th.

Jill said...

I LOVE baby swirly too!! Definetly one of my favorite things. I don't know about the laundry thing, but I'm willing to try....

PookaB said...

Just ask Matthew how much I LOVE laundry. So much so that we actually have our own laundry parties, and there are just 3 of us. The shame...
I wanted you to know that my blog is public now, so if you were having any trouble getting on(like everyone else) you can now.
www.thisismyforeverfamily.blogspot.com

Karen said...

I'm trying to keep my laundry in check. Glad I'm not the only one that "loves laundry" :) BTW, funny that you use the word nappy, the first time I heard that was from my mission president who was from Australia. I think it is a word that is trickling over here. Funny!

Amy said...

Those pictures are so cute!
Thanks for the laundry reminder. I have had the same basket of whites to be folded in my bedroom for a week now. Every morning I dump it out on my bed (that I actually made) and tell myself that I can't go to bed until they are folded and put away. Every night, I just dump them back in the basket.

To be honest, I don't see the point in dressers. I think everyone should just get their clothes from laundry baskets. Maybe I can invent some kind of "laundry-basket-dresser." That would be great! Maybe I just stumbled upon the idea that will make me millions!

Larae Taylor Merritt said...

Oh, Julie you make me laugh! Yet you have inspired me to have a different attitude tword my mos hated,... I mean loved task a mother can have!

Your kids are so cute! Good luck with the rain dance!

Angie Larkin said...

Ha! I loved this post. You are my quirkiest little friend. That was amazing laundry action. Doesn't it just make you want to live like Little house on the prairie with a play outfit and a church outfit and that's it? One bath a week...those were the days. Fresh clothes and baths...overrated right? Ahhh....no insignificant tasks, I like that.

Michelle said...

adorable post, Julie. Those are all such great pictures! I especially that Patrick is using the sling and that Justin loves Dallin so much. I almost had a heart attack when I saw the thing about whole foods having clearance sales!! Is this still happening? Please tell me I have not totally missed out! If ever something so miraculous happens again, please CALL ME immediately!! It is well worth the drive. Heck, I'd drive to St. George for deals like that!!

p.s. I appreciate your great attitude about laundry and other similarly glorious tasks! :)

i said...

sorry, michelle, it's over. i thought about calling you, at the end. i thought, she wouldn't want to make the drive and what if i called her and there was nothing there for her when she made the effort. sorry. not nice :(

Janelle said...

Awesome post! I loved it all! Your boys are truly lucky with their perfect swirl! Both my cuties have two in the back, makes for messy swirls (I think they are adorable all the same! Even when Byron's hair NEVER lays down in back!)
I just wanted you to know that I am inspired! I now LOVE MOPPING! Honestly I mean it! I love mopping (I'll let you know how it goes! :)
Thanks again for having us over on Wednesday! Byron asked both days if he could have Justin over to play, and made sure he was on the 'birthday friend' list too! I had a great time visiting with you too!

The Missouri Mom said...

I love the rain dance.....i remember Celesse going thru that stage......now she at least wears panties....but today I caught Dillard unstrapping his diaper, so here we go again!

Anonymous said...

One of my favorite things is reading your blog!!! You're inspiring My Sweet Julie!!!! Mommie loves you and I'm so grateful that you've become such a kind and loving mother!! I just finished listening to last conference all the way through again and M. Russell Ballard's talk reminded me of you and what a great mother you are!!! Heavenly Father loves you and so do I!! Love, MOM

thecustercrew said...

I love sleepy grins and I too have not been able to catch one yet of Max. They happen so fast. I share your love for laundry. Movie night is definately the way to go. I have to keep my folded laundry on the air hockey table because Conner's favorite thing is to mess it all up.

Derpina Derp said...

Wow, your laundry pile is almost a big as mine!

Elizabeth Dover said...

I will have to work on learning to love laundry. I do enjoy listening to books as I clean and do laundry. I transport myself this way while doing the madane. (spelling?) It sounds like Anna is showing those signs of potty training. I love your hard wood floors. I do shampoo my carpets but I don't think they get as clean as a hard wood floor from the spills of life ect. Your sling is great. I had a snugly with my kids but I think next time around I want to try a sling.

The Alvarez Family said...

Hi Julie! I was so excited to see you found us. My computer crashed and it was hard to get back online....

Catherine Noorda said...

i love whole foods too. i always want to do all my grocery shopping there and then it costs about a million dollars :)

Anonymous said...

after listening to President Monsons talk yesterday afternoon,... I also love laundry! Ha! ok, I really dont... but I am trying! Truly I am trying to love laundry.... because one day I will only be washing mine and the hubbys landry... and that would be a sad sad sad day!! thanks for sharing all your favorites!

The Alvarez Family said...

Add us to your list! do you keep up with anybody from the old days? I love your occupation. Family CEO! Your family is adorable.

Kristin said...

Hats of to you for even loving laundry! I think you're on to something there, though. It's not going to go away, so we may as well learn to love it! It was fun to see all the other cute things you're enjoying lately, too!

Mary said...

Julie,
I love you. You are so wonderful.
Love,
Mary